Latest Articles about Transit
Xi’s Anti-Corruption Campaign: Yunnan Province in Focus
Introduction At the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) last October, General Secretary Xi Jinping lauded the achievements of his anti-corruption campaign, reminding the audience that a total of 207,000 “top leaders” (一把手) at all levels had been investigated by the discipline... MORE
Russo-Indian Economic Ties During Wartime: Oil, Currency and the Arctic
Following the launch Russia’s all-out war of aggression against Ukraine and growing international economic-political isolation, the Kremlin’s contacts with major regional and international powers have shrunk to three primary players: China, India and Turkey. Specifically, current and prospective ties are being cultivated between Moscow and... MORE
Georgia Attempts to Revive Strategic Anaklia Deep-Sea Port Project
In all likelihood, the Georgian government has decided to seriously deal with the project of constructing the strategically important deep-sea Port of Anaklia, which was suspended in 2020 when the government canceled the $2.5 billion contract with previous investor Anaklia Development Consortium (ADC) (Eurasianet, January... MORE
Uncertain Political Consequences Hamper Proposed Russian-Kazakhstani-Uzbekistani Gas Union
In recent weeks, Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have been hotly discussing the possibility of establishing a trilateral natural gas union among the three countries. The union, proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, is an alliance that aims to coordinate efforts to transport Russian gas through... MORE
Warnings and Welcomes: China’s Reopening and the Politics of International Travel
Over the past two months, as the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has rapidly rolled back its strict zero-COVID epidemic prevention policy, COVID-19 has spread rapidly throughout the country. The combination of the PRC reopening its borders to outbound travel on January 8 and the... MORE
Beijing Summit Cements China’s Role as Dominant Outside Power in Turkmenistan
Since gaining independence in 1991, Turkmenistan has typically attracted only sporadic international attention both because of its constitutionally mandated policy of strict neutrality and the extreme isolation Ashgabat has pursued with an authoritarianism so severe that it rivals that of North Korea. But the country’s... MORE
Capacities and Dimensions of Russian Investment in Iranian Oil and Gas Fields
On July 19, 2022, the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Russian gas company Gazprom worth close to $40 billion. The deal was signed by the CEOs of both companies during a virtual ceremony on the same day that... MORE
Can Kazakhstan Rescue Europe Amid the Russian Oil Embargo?
On December 29, 2022, Kazakhstani state-owned oil and gas company KazMunaiGaz announced plans to export oil to Germany starting in January 2023. Arrangements were made to export a total of 1.2 million tons of oil through the Druzhba pipeline via Russia and Ukraine (Informburo.kz, December 29,... MORE
Russia Now Forced to Look East of Caucasus to Reach Iran
Russian officials and international media have given prominent coverage to Moscow’s plans for a transcontinental trade corridor southward to Iran via the Caucasus. These efforts aim to end-run Western sanctions and expand Russian trade in the Indian Ocean basin and beyond. But Russian experts concede... MORE
The Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway and the Future of the Belt and Road Initiative
Introduction On the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo watched over a video livestream as the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway (HSR) sped through its first trial run between Tegalluar Station and Casting Yard No.... MORE